The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program by the inventor, Robert Edward Lee. The inventor's intention was to develop Lagerstroemia hybrid plants with dark foliage and resistance to Cercospora leaf spot (C. lythracaerum). This new variety, hereinafter referred to as ‘DELEE’, was discovered as a seedling, resulting from an open pollination of several Lagerstroemia indica varieties. Seed was bulk collected from several seed parents, with the actual seed and pollen parents unidentified. The new variety was selected by the inventor during Summer of 2007 at a commercial nursery in Independence, La.
After identifying the new variety as a potentially interesting selection, the inventor first organized propagation of ‘DELEE’ by vegetative cuttings Fall of 2007 at the same commercial nursery in Independence, La. The inventor continued controlled testing and propagation, assessing stability of the unique characteristics of this variety. Multiple generations have been reproduced and have shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.